Chapter 415: Old anime fans can't bear to see this

At a noodle stall in the small town,

A steaming bowl of plain noodles sat before Uchiha Gin, the bland broth topped with a few nameless vegetable leaves, failing to stir the slightest appetite in him.

"Slurp, slurp, slurp!!!"

Instead, Konan, sitting across from him, had her entire purple-haired head buried in the noodle bowl, the sound of her ravenous chewing echoing incessantly.

Soon, the large bowl of noodles was wiped clean. Licking her lips with lingering desire, Konan looked at Uchiha Gin with a hint of longing.

"Um..."

Uchiha Gin gave a slight nod and pushed his own bowl of noodles toward her. "Take it, eat."

"Thank you very much!"

Konan grabbed the bowl, which was larger than her own head, and without caring that the noodles were scalding, began to inhale them in a storm of slurps. The yellowish noodles vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Watching Konan, whose cheeks had puffed out like a hamster's, Uchiha Gin couldn't help but marvel at how girls change as they grow—how this scrawny, withered little girl would eventually become the alluring Angel of the Akatsuki.

Wait, there was a real-life case.

Wasn't that brat Senju Itama...

"Burp~"

Just as Uchiha Gin tried to banish the memory of that stunningly large 'J' from his mind, a familiar belch interrupted his thoughts.

"Full?"

"Mm."

Konan, having licked the bowl clean, set down her chopsticks and nodded obediently, though a hint of hesitation appeared on her face.

"What is it? Don't be shy, order more if you want."

Uchiha Gin wasn't the stingy type; his stinginess was always highly targeted.

"Um... could I pack a bowl to go?"

Lowering her head in embarrassment, Konan spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. Uchiha Gin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"There will be more tomorrow."

"No, it's not that. I wanted to bring a bowl for Yahiko."

Konan bit her lip, mentioning a name that caught Uchiha Gin slightly off guard.

He hadn't expected Konan to have already met the future "Rice-Carrying King." A flicker of contemplation crossed Uchiha Gin's eyes.

"Anyone else?"

"No, no one else."

Worried that Uchiha Gin would find her a burden with too many mouths to feed, Konan shook her head repeatedly.

It seemed the "stand-in" for his cousin hadn't appeared yet, but judging by Konan's age, it should be happening within the next year or two.

"Don't pack it."

"Oh... okay."

Hearing Uchiha Gin's words, the expectant look on Konan's face vanished instantly. She hung her head, looking like a frost-bitten eggplant.

It made sense. She had already eaten two bowls of his noodles; how could she dare to ask for more?

"Noodles get soggy if you pack them. Buy some food that stores well instead."

"Huh?"

Konan looked up in surprise, a glimmer of light returning to her dim eyes.

"Let's go, what are you standing there for?"

"Coming!"

"Boss, here's the money."

Uchiha Gin stood up and tossed a gold nugget the size of a soybean to the fawning noodle stall owner.

The owner caught it, bit down on it in disbelief, and upon realizing it was real gold, glanced around furtively before stuffing the nugget into his trousers.

"Come again soon~"

Since Uchiha Gin didn't have the habit of carrying currency, and he didn't know if the antique money from his own era would be accepted, he had simply broken a gold brick into small pieces for his daily expenses.

Walking down the main street of the town, Konan followed behind Uchiha Gin, a sense of inexplicable security rising in her heart as she looked at his imposing figure.

This was the first time Konan had walked down this street with her head held high. Before, she could only skulk like a sewer rat, hiding in the dark corners on either side, watching the passersby with envy.

"I... how should I address you?"

Biting her lip, Konan recalled what Uchiha Gin had said while holding the umbrella for her, and a blush crept across her face.

If he really wanted her to call him "Daddy," should she do it or not?

Would "Father" be more polite? But "Daddy" sounded more intimate.

How about "Dada"?

Konan remembered a street in the town lined with red lanterns, where the mature women standing on either side addressed older men that way.

"Me? Well..."

Walking ahead, Uchiha Gin had no idea that Konan, who had become a bubbling pot of fantasies, was thinking such things. He rubbed his chin in thought.

"Just call me Gin-san."

He assumed Konan was asking for his name. Not wanting to reveal his identity, Uchiha Gin gave a simple, casual title.

"Da... Gin-san!"

Konan, her head spinning, blurted out the first syllable before catching herself and slamming on the brakes before she could drive into the "kindergarten."

"What did you just call me?"

Uchiha Gin stopped and turned around, puzzled. Konan immediately turned her head away.

"Nothing!"

Soon, Uchiha Gin took Konan to purchase a large batch of supplies, enough to last two children for quite a long time.

After stowing the odds and ends into a storage scroll, Uchiha Gin looked up and saw the hopeful gaze in Konan's eyes.

"You want to learn?"

Fiddling with the storage scroll in his hand, a faint, imperceptible smirk curled the corner of Uchiha Gin's mouth.

"Is Gin-san willing to teach me?"

Konan blinked, then leaned in excitedly, her small face nearly pressing against Uchiha Gin's thigh.

"Being a ninja isn't easy. You need to be mentally prepared."

Uchiha Gin knew exactly what Konan was thinking. He straightened his expression, his tone becoming very serious.

"Please, teach me ninjutsu!"

Stepping back, Konan knelt on the ground, her small head thumping hard into the brown mud.

"Good! That's the spirit!"

This was the effect Uchiha Gin wanted. He stepped forward to help Konan up, wiping the mud from her forehead with a look of profound responsibility.

"I will definitely train you into an outstanding kunoichi."

"I'm counting on you!"

Konan set her small face and nodded heavily.

The two left the town, and Konan took the lead, winding through the forest for a long time until a very hidden cave appeared before Uchiha Gin.

Cold wind whistled through this narrow cave, and water droplets dripping from above splashed onto the damp, muddy ground, pooling into puddles of various sizes.

Deep inside the cave, there were two tattered blankets—or rather, they looked more like cargo sacks. It was hard to imagine how two children could sleep here in such cold weather.

Other than that, there was only a broken oil lamp, its weak flame flickering precariously in the darkness.

"Is Yahiko not back yet?"

Konan carried the oil lamp around, failing to find her companion. However, seeing the mark he had left behind, she knew he was safe.

She turned to Uchiha Gin and made a gesture of invitation.

"Welcome to my home."

"You two usually live here?"

Uchiha Gin frowned as he looked around, his tone unreadable.

"This secret base was discovered by Yahiko. Before that, we just slept under other people's eaves."

Pretending to be nonchalant, Konan nodded and sat on the sack-blanket on the ground, hugging her knees and resting her chin on them, as if recalling something.

"At least we aren't chased away, and there are no dogs biting us."

"Sigh."

Uchiha Gin felt a pang of pain in his heart. As an old anime fan, he couldn't bear to see this kind of plot.

He walked slowly to the girl whose face had dimmed, and crouched down. Konan looked up, confusion and longing for the future in her bright eyes.

"From today on, I am your teacher."

"Yes! Gin-san!"

After a brief moment of shock, a radiant smile bloomed on Konan's face, as pure as an angel.

Although many of Uchiha Gin's abilities were temporarily restricted after being transported to this timeline, the knowledge in his head remained.

The system determined whether Uchiha Gin had learned Paper Ninjutsu based on whether his "student" Konan knew it. Thus, he could simply teach this Konan the secret technique first, and then he would naturally master it himself, fulfilling the mission requirements.

No sooner said than done.

Uchiha Gin sat cross-legged before Konan. He glanced at the dim lamp, formed a Tiger seal common to Fire Release, and...

"Fire Release: Ghost Lantern!"

With the circulation of chakra in his meridians, dazzling fireballs ignited within the cave.

"Ah! Don't eat me!"

Seeing the ferocious ghost-faced fireballs, Konan screamed in terror and curled into a defensive crouch.

"Uh, sorry. I'll change the design."

Scratching his head, Uchiha Gin also felt that the ghost-lantern design was a bit too 18+ and could easily traumatize a child's psyche. He closed his eyes and visualized a different design in his mind.

"Is this better?"

Konan looked up tremblingly after the modification was complete. Her fear gradually dissipated.

"They're little doggies!"

Floating in mid-air were several Q-version Shiba Inu heads, illuminating the cave while radiating warmth. Feeling the chill leave her body, Konan broke into a wide smile.

"This is ninjutsu. Isn't it convenient?"

"I want to learn!"

Konan's eyes sparkled with stars as she leaned in expectantly.

"Don't try to bite off more than you can chew. Everything must be done step by step."

Uchiha Gin shook his head and held up a finger to Konan.

"Sit cross-legged. I'll explain what chakra is."

Konan sat up straight immediately, pricking up her ears to listen.

"The human body has 130 trillion cells. The power generated by mixing the mental energy and physical energy produced by these cells is called chakra."

As he spoke, a faint blue glow appeared at his fingertip.

"This is chakra."

"So beautiful."

Staring blankly at the blue chakra light, Konan's anticipation grew even stronger.

"Any ninjutsu requires chakra as support. So, to become a... proper ninja, you must first learn to refine chakra."

Thinking of a certain thick-browed, bowl-cut brat, Uchiha Gin slightly modified his definition of a ninja.

"Refine chakra?"

Konan, who knew nothing about the path of a ninja, blinked blankly.

"Generally speaking, to refine chakra, you must first become familiar with your body's meridians. But given our current conditions, we'll keep it simple."

With the countdown in his head still ticking, Uchiha Gin didn't want to waste three days teaching Konan how to refine chakra.

"Hold out your hand."

"Yes!"

Looking at Konan's scrawny, slender hand, Uchiha Gin gently touched his finger to her palm, injecting a stream of gentle life energy into the girl's body.

"Ah~"

As the unfamiliar chakra entered her body, Konan felt an itch all over. The warm current dispersed through her body, and the slight stimulation made her cry out.

Then came a very comfortable feeling—warm and cozy—making Konan want to sleep. Her eyelids began to droop.

"Stay alert. Remember the direction this energy flows."

"Yes!"

Konan snapped to attention, beginning to earnestly record the path Uchiha Gin's chakra took.

After a while, Uchiha Gin withdrew his hand.

"Did you remember? If not, we'll do another round."

"I... I remembered."

Feeling the warmth fade, Konan, who was reluctant to let it go, opened her mouth to answer, but hearing the second half of Uchiha Gin's sentence, her eyes darted around, and she put on a confused expression.

"So difficult... you have no choice."

Shaking his head, Uchiha Gin reached out his hand again.

This kind of "idiot-proof" enlightenment tutorial was something only great clans used; ordinary families had to rely on their own intuition.

This was exactly how the class divide widened—most people never reached Rome, while some were born in the Colosseum.

Konan, who was "dull-witted," finally learned how to refine chakra after dozens of hands-on tutorials from Uchiha Gin.

"Sigh... you're the worst student I've ever taught."

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Uchiha Gin looked at her with a mix of exasperation and disappointment. Konan stuck out her tongue, not feeling the expected disappointment, but asking curiously instead:

"Does Gin-san have other students?"

"Mm, a few useless ones. Not worth mentioning."

"Can you introduce me to them?"

"Uh... you'll meet them when fate decides."

Looking at Konan's expectant face, Uchiha Gin turned his head away with an unreadable expression. It was better if they didn't meet; the Danzo of this timeline was no saint.

"Enough of that. Since you've learned to refine chakra, let's move on to the next stage of training."

"So fast?"

Konan, who had just refined a tiny bit of chakra, looked up in surprise. Was she in a "Ninja Crash Course"?

"I am best at teaching according to aptitude. Other messy things will be taught to you by someone else later."

Waving his hand at Konan, he figured Jiraiya would help her build a foundation later anyway; he only needed to teach her his signature skills.

Saying this, Uchiha Gin pulled a stack of white paper from his backpack.

"I see you have a unique bone structure; you're a natural for learning origami. Want to become a legendary Origami Warrior?"

"Huh?"

For the next day, Uchiha Gin accompanied Konan in the cave, playing with origami. The entry requirement for Paper Ninjutsu was to be a master of paper folding.

"Gin-san! Look, is my little doggie cute?"

"Cute, cute~"

"Gin-san, my paper crane..."

"Go sell it to the Japanese~"

"Gin-san, my..."

"Yes, yes, yes~"

Uchiha Gin nodded perfunctorily at Konan's excited voice, until she excitedly brought a delicate paper dragon to him, which finally piqued his interest.

"You've got nimble hands~"

A look of appreciation appeared in Uchiha Gin's eyes as he looked at the ferocious paper dragon. Konan's face instantly beamed with radiant joy.

"Very good. Now, the most critical step: make it move."

Pointing at the paper dragon, Uchiha Gin gave a strange command to Konan.

"That's impossible, right? How can paper move?"

Konan shook her head repeatedly at this harsh command.

"Chakra is a magical power. As long as you want to do it, it can be done. Just imagine you are the paper."

"Imagine I'm paper? Why don't you say I'm a retard?"

After spending a day with Uchiha Gin, Konan had become much more open. Facing her teacher, she couldn't wait to roll her eyes to the heavens.

"You are beyond help!"

Uchiha Gin pointed at Konan in frustration. If his Bloodline Limit and secret techniques hadn't been banned by the system, he would have shown this girl what real technique was.

"It seems you haven't folded enough. Go fold all of these!"

As the saying goes, a strict teacher produces talented students!

He pulled out a stack of paper he had bought beforehand—about ten or twenty thousand sheets—and placed them before Konan. Looking at the pile of white paper taller than herself, she turned her head tremblingly.

"Fold all of these?"

"I'm not asking you to fold 600 billion sheets, so get to it!"

Uchiha Gin decided to be strict with Konan, otherwise, he might be permanently trapped in this timeline.

At night, Uchiha Gin was dozing in the cave while Konan was still working hard at folding.

"I'll fold your pig head!"

Skillfully folding the white paper into the shape of a pig's head, Konan glared resentfully at Uchiha Gin, who was lying behind her.

"Swoosh~"

Suddenly, Uchiha Gin opened his eyes, startling Konan so much that the pig head in her hand tore in two.

"Someone's coming."

"Tap, tap, tap."

No sooner had he spoken than a series of light footsteps came from the cave entrance. Konan's eyes lit up when she heard the familiar sound.

"It's Yahiko!"

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a brat with orange spiky hair walked in, carrying a few charred pieces of bread.

Seeing Konan, a look of joy appeared on his face. He held up the failed products he had scavenged from the back kitchen of a bakery.

"Konan, look what I found!"

"Yahiko!"

Konan stood up excitedly. Yahiko was the only family she had in this world.

Uh... now there were two.

The two of them had just begun to speak when Yahiko noticed Uchiha Gin yawning on the ground. Having such a large stranger appear in their secret base would startle anyone.

"Who are you?"

Yahiko hurriedly shielded Konan behind him, reaching for the piece of sharpened iron hidden at his waist—his vital tool for survival.

"Yahiko! Don't, he's my teacher!"

Seeing the glint of cold steel at Yahiko's waist, Konan turned pale with fright. In her panic, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it instinctively.

"Ah!"

The immense force from her wrist made Yahiko cry out. Konan quickly let go.

"I didn't mean to."

Yahiko rubbed his wrist, tears welling up in Konan's eyes.

"Sigh... Konan, since when did you become so strong?"

Yahiko didn't blame his "sister," just rubbed his wrist, relieved that it was only red and swollen and not broken.

"This is the power of chakra. You must master it well, and don't let it cloud your mind."

Uchiha Gin sat up. He hadn't expected Konan's physique to improve so rapidly after learning to refine chakra; in just one day, she possessed strength far beyond that of an ordinary person.

"Mister, who are you?"

Yahiko looked at Uchiha Gin with vigilance. Konan tugged at his sleeve from behind.

"Yahiko, Gin-san is a good person. Not only did he save me and treat me to a meal, but he's also teaching me ninjutsu."

Konan whispered into Yahiko's ear, briefly recounting her meeting with Uchiha Gin.

After whispering for a long time and understanding the situation, Yahiko walked up to Uchiha Gin and bowed with gratitude.

"Thank you for saving Konan!"

Uchiha Gin resisted the urge to rub Pain's head and shook his head lightly.

"I just did what any man would do."

"Wow!"

Hearing this, a look of worship appeared in Yahiko's eyes. Such a manly and heroic statement—he truly was a great hero!

"Gin-sensei! Please teach me ninjutsu too!"

Without hesitation, Yahiko, completely won over by Uchiha Gin's words, knelt down and kowtowed until his head thudded against the ground.

"Stop, stop, stop! Aren't you afraid I have ulterior motives?"

Stopping Yahiko's self-harm, Uchiha Gin rubbed his chin with interest and asked a soul-searching question.

"Huh? What do we have that you would want?"

Yahiko looked around. All their worldly possessions were right there; if Uchiha Gin wanted them, he could just take them.

"Orphans like us, living day to day, are lucky just to see tomorrow's rain."

Looking at Yahiko's sincere eyes, Uchiha Gin nodded with slight approval.

As expected of the No. 1 of the first-generation Akatsuki and the "skin" of the second generation—he was a real character.

"Fine. Teaching one is teaching, teaching two is the same."

Uchiha Gin didn't refuse Yahiko's request, but his time was limited; how much the boy could learn would depend on his own intuition.

"Thank you, Gin-sen... san!"

"Hold out your... never mind, go wash your hands first."

He had intended to replicate the idiot-proof tutorial, but seeing Yahiko's filth-covered hands, Uchiha Gin shook his head in disgust.

"Alright, I'll only teach you once. How much you remember is up to your own ability."

Uchiha Gin wasn't as invested in the "bonus" student Yahiko, as he was a bit of a face-con and didn't like "little boy-girls."

"Ah~ ah~ ah! Ah! Ah!!!"

To Uchiha Gin's surprise, young Yahiko let out a sound reminiscent of a certain beastly senior, which caught him quite off guard.

"Kid, you've got talent. I have a black tea recipe here—want to learn it? It's guaranteed to be satisfying~"